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TeaShrewprotected keyword Polymorphism
casting
abstract classes & methods final classes & methods
CST8284
protected keyword
when applied to fields, permits subclasses access to fields directly
"access" means both read & write instead of using getter/setter careful: direct access will bypass "business rules" coded in getter/setter
can also apply to methods
instead of public or private e.g. permit only subclass(es) to use getter/setter consider BankExample: setBalance() is not exposed to end-user but subclasses can use/override it
CST8284
consider a superclass and a subclass
e.g. Employee and Manager var of type superclass can refer to instance of subclass
because a Manager "is an" Employee, called an "upcast"
Employee e2 = m; Employee e = new Employee(); Manager m = new Manager();
what about the reverse ?
runtime error because e refers to an Employee
CST8284
Manager m2 = (Manager) e2; // "downcast" Manager m3 = (Manager) e; // runtime error
use instanceof to check first
inherited and overridden methods
can be accessed by var of type superclass more specific behaviour method is overridden called "late binding" or "polymorphic method lookup"
if subclass has additional methods/fields
access requires variable of subclass type e.g. var of type Employee can access methods/fields defined in Manager such as getBonus() using a superclass var to refer to subclass instance
"upcasting" always permitted
"downcasting" use instanceof before cast
object must be instance of subclass to avoid runtime error
CST8284
consider Employee class
wish to create HourlyEmployee and SalariedEmployee each with specific getPay() method later, there may be more subclasses with different getPay() can we "postpone" definition of getPay() until later subclasses solution: declare method getPay() as an "abstract method"
using the abstract keyword public abstract double getPay(); but still ensure it gets coded ? but no getpay() in Employee
CST8284
abstract method
complete declaration, param signature, etc.
but no method body
abstract class
can not be private
a class with 1 or more abstract methods only used for inheritance can not be instantiated imposes coding requirement on subclass(es) if not coded, subclass is also abstract
CST8284
so a class that has at least one abstract method is called an abstract class
and must be defined with abstract keyword
public abstract class Employee { ... public abstract double getPay(); ... }
CST8284
abstract class can have mix of abstract and fully defined methods If subclass of abstract class does not define bodies for all of abstract methods
"concrete" class
then it is abstract also and use must use abstract in its defintion
has no abstract methods all methods are fully defined
(also called "concrete" methods
CST8284
Although we can not instantiate abstract class
it's still a class still has constuctors
coded by us or default from compiler
and subclasses must still use super()
can be used as a type for variables, upcasts, passed as args, etc
or compiler will call superclass no-arg constructor common use: var of type (abstract) superclass to refer to subclass
Employee e = new HourlyEmployee(); List myList = new ArrayList();
CST8284
have already seen final keyword with variables
once value is set, it can not be modified often use to create "constants"
final can also be used with definition of methods
such methods can not be overridden in subclass
final can also be used with definition of class
means class can be extended can be used as a superclass for a subclass effectively "stops" further inheritance
CST8284
